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Claim: A Facebook user shared a video of Governor Fubara claiming superiority over members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
Verdict: Misleading! The video has been online since 2024, during the Rivers State political crisis.
Full Text
On Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, the Rivers State House of Assembly initiated fresh impeachment proceedings against the Rivers State governor, Siminalayi Fubara, and his deputy, Ngozi Odu, following unresolved allegations of gross misconduct and corruption.
As tension intensified, Governor Fubara was barred from presenting the State’s mid-term expenditure framework and the 2026 budget until the issue is resolved.
Amidst this political unrest, a Facebook user, Lere Olayinka, shared a video on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2025, of Governor Fubara allegedly responding to the Rivers State House of Assembly. In the video, he declared himself superior to the State’s assembly, calling them powerless and unconstitutional.
The video’s caption read, “Fubara to Rivers assembly members: I determine your existence, I can de-recognise you.”
Fubara, in the video, said, “Those groups of men who claim to be Assembly members are not Assembly members; they do not exist. I want it to be on record. I accepted the Peace Accord to give them a float.”
The same video with similar captions was shared on Facebook (here and here) and X (here and here).
As of Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, the video had attracted over 3,500 likes, 1,600 comments, and 537 reposts.
A review of the comment section reveals that users linked it to the recent impeachment movement, while a few others tagged the video as old.
One user, Ibrahim Tijjani, wrote, “I now understand why he sent them 100k each for detty December.”
Another comment by Salisu Ahmad reads, “As Rivers State politics dey entertain the south, Kano state politics are entertaining the north. Can’t wait for 2027.”
Kura Ronald asserted, “I guess this was before the emergency rule…”
Due to the sensitivity of the post and the rising tension within the Rivers State government, DUBAWA decided to verify the claim.
Verification
Using Google Reverse Image Search on screenshots of the video clip, DUBAWA came across a similar video shared on Facebook in 2024. The video is similar to the copy shared by the Facebook claimant.
In the video, Fubara addressed the issue of political crisis among officials while advocating for a peace accord between the warring parties. He stated that he had agreed to a truce with the political officials because they were people he had once been a benefactor to.
Furthermore, we came across the same video reported by Channels Television on YouTube in May 2024. The four-second video was captioned, “You do not exist: Fubara slams Rivers Assembly members.”
A similar version was also shared by Business Day on Instagram in May 2024.
Investigating further, DUBAWA conducted a keyword search for published reports from 2024.
On May 6, 2024, TheCable reported that Fubara stated that the existence of members of the State House of Assembly is based on his recognition.
According to this report, the video was filmed while Fubara was addressing some political and traditional leaders from Bayelsa State who visited him at the Government House in Port Harcourt.
Reporting a similar development in May 2024, Channels Television added that the Rivers State governor explained how police officers and some of his commissioners were used to intimidate and sabotage his administration.
A similar story was also published by The Nation and Arise News in May 2024.
Despite extensive research, DUBAWA was unable to trace the BBC version of the video as inscribed in the claimant’s post.
Conclusion
Careful inquiries carried out by DUBAWA reveal that the clip was filmed during the political unrest in Rivers State in 2024, which led to Fubara’s suspension. It is not related to the recent impeachment proceedings by the Rivers State Assembly against the Governor.
